


The Virtue of Patience

by Port



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Art Embedded, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, F/F, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 11:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6326428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port/pseuds/Port
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn is awake, Rey is back, and everyone wants to get caught up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Virtue of Patience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sumi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/gifts).



> Chag Purim same'akh, Sumi! Hope you enjoy this little piece, even though it got more meta than planned. :) 
> 
> Art is by the author.

“...so I closed my eyes and I felt it, Finn. I felt what Maz had told me, the Light side of the Force.”

“What did it feel like?”

Rey closed her eyes briefly, as though feeling it again. Maybe she was. “Like I could protect you. I saw that I was strong enough to protect you.”

Finn had woken up knowing that he could only be alive because of Rey, but the way she said it made it sound different than it did in his head. Better. “No one has _ever_ tried to protect me,” he said.

Rey’s gaze was solid and knowing. “You came back for me. And we’re friends.”

Finn nodded seriously. “So you fought Kylo Ren using the Force.”

Rey leapt back to telling the story, which was good, because Finn had only heard bits and pieces so far. He had awoken a week after the attack on Starkiller Base, with Rey already gone and a shockingly high number of visitors and well-wishers coming in to introduce themselves and thank him for his service. Poe had been there most often, sometimes bringing other pilots, and the General had had a number of discussions with him too, but no one could tell him everything he wanted to know. Nobody but Rey, and she hadn’t come back until early this morning. 

Finn was still on bedrest, too weak to walk around much, so she’d found him off in his cot in the med ward. When she strode up to his bed, radiating barely suppressed giddiness, they had woken the rest of the floor with their greetings. Even now, an hour into catching up, they still sometimes found themselves stopping and staring at each other in pleased disbelief.

“Do I get to hear what happened when you went after Skywalker?” Finn asked when Rey had caught him up on the fallout of her battle with Ren and their return to D’Qar. 

“Of course! I was just getting to that.”

Finn listened with ever-increasing interest as Rey described her journey with Chewbacca and Artoo and how she had used the Force to guide the _Falcon_ to a landing on one of the islands of the the water-planet. “I could feel his presence,” she said. “From high up in space, as soon as we arrived, I knew exactly where to find him. But it wasn’t only through the Force. I mean, it was, of course. But it was so strange, like I had always had him tucked away in the back of my mind, and only now noticed. That didn’t make sense to me until later.”

She laughed a little at his wide-eyed attention, then went on.

“I had to land us a ways down and then climb up the steps of a mountain that later turned out to be the Jedi Temple, carved out of all that rock. I’ll tell you about that too. But anyway, I went higher and higher, and suddenly there he was at the top, waiting there in a hooded robe, Luke Skywalker.”

Finn motioned quickly for her to continue. “What did you say?”

Rey grimaced. “I’m afraid I lost the ability to speak. Everything I thought about before seemed inadequate, and every word I knew flew right out of my head. In retrospect, that seems like a mercy. Better to say nothing than babble incoherently, right?”

“What happened then?”

“Well, I held out his lightsaber and--”

“Hey, she really is back!” came a voice from the door. Finn turned to see Poe standing there. Rey stood up as he came in. “I hope you don’t mind me interrupting. I heard you were here, Rey, and wanted to say welcome home.”

“Thank you, Poe,” Rey said, belatedly realizing from Poe’s body language that a hug was in order. She hugged him, and then stepped back. “When I left, I made Poe promise to take care of you,” she told Finn.

“And I made her promise to come back. Looks like we both held up our deal.” Poe grinned and clapped Finn on the shoulder. “She catching you up?”

“She was just telling me about meeting Luke Skywalker for the first time.”

Poe had known Skywalker as a child, and this was clearly a story that he was dying to hear. “I can start over,” Rey said, indicating for Poe to sit. They both made themselves comfortable sitting on either side of Finn’s bed, and Rey began again from the point of taking off in the _Falcon_ with Chewie and Artoo. “So I had no idea what to say, but I remembered the lightsaber in my pack. I held it out to him and he--oh, hello.”

Finn twisted to look toward the door and saw Jess there. She gave the three of them a little wave. “Hi there.”

Rey seemed somewhat startled. She stared at her a couple of beats before lifting up her hand and wanly returning the little wave.

“Oh, hey,” said Poe, just before things could get awkward. “Rey, this is Jess Pava, Blue Three. She was at Starkiller Base too.”

“Welcome back,” Jess said. “The General sent me to get you. I think it’s time for your debriefing.”

“Right now?” Finn asked.

“I’ll give you a couple minutes,” Jess said, with a wink. “Just head to the command center, Rey.”

“Will do,” Rey said faintly.

As soon as Jess left, Rey let out a breath and a blush rose up on her cheeks. “She’s a pilot?”

“One of the best,” Poe said. He peered at Rey closely, turned back to the empty doorway, and then looked at Rey with an understanding smile. “She’s also, er, unattached.”

Rey’s blush darkened. “Okay. Tell me everything about her on the way to the command center.”

As they got up to leave, Finn found his voice again. “Wait, what about Luke Skywalker? What happened when you tried to give him his lightsaber back?”

Distractedly, Rey said, “Oh, that’s a long story. I’ll tell you next time, okay? I shouldn’t keep the General waiting.” With an apologetic smile, she pulled Poe along with her out of the room. 

Finn watched them walk away with their heads bent closely together, then slumped back against his pillows. “Waited this long,” he muttered. “Guess I can wait some more.”

End.


End file.
